Photographic-printing machine.



F. W. NORON. DSDTOGRPHG FRINUNG MACHINE.

y Hummm man lumi 11, 1914.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915,

Wfl/6556s FRANK W..NOR'1ON, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

PHGTOGRAPHIC-PRINTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led June 11, 1914. Serial No. 844,457.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK-W. NORTON, a

citizen of the United States, residing atl Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements` in Photographic- Printing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following t0 be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

This invention relates to the art of printing photographs mechanically and by the use of artificial light, and the object of the invention is to produce a machine adapted 'for the rapid and-,uniform printing of such' photographs, either from single negatives, or a plurality thereof, the machine being designed to give'a very quick lift of the'platen and ejection of the printed sheet, and comparatively for the insertion of a fresh sheet, and of closure for the printing of the same;

The nature` of the invention is fully disclosed in the description and claims following, reference being had to the vaccompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a side,r mid-sectional view of a printing machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, with parts broken away to show mechanism below, the cover ,or platen being lremoved.

` box is provided Fig. 4 is showing the electrical connections of the Fig. 3 is a similar view of a printing frame. a fragmentary, sectional view,

lamps with the cam-wheel which a-ctuates the platen. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, vertical section of the printing frame. Fig. G'r'epresents a shading sheet for a is a diagrammatic view of the electrical wiring and connections. Fig. .8 slrows a removable extension of the main cam.`

In the drawing 1 denotes a light-chamber, which is a box of -suitable size,- closed on all sides except the top. In practice the with a lower extension 2, somewhat larger in area than the upper box, and provided with a bottom 3 sliding in and out between cleats 4. This compartment holds the driving motor 5, lwhich in practice may be a three-speed fan motor of a very simple and inexpensive type. The motor is of well Vknown construction, and need not be long periods of opening v negative. Fig. 7

l to a pulley mally, however,

described. Its attachment to the side of the box 1s shown 1n Fig. 2,' the speed-changing lever 6 projecting through a slot in the back of the box. The driving belt 7 passes through holes in the top of this lower chamber, and transmits motion from the motor-pulley 8 to a pulley 9 mounted on a stud 10 projecting from an arm 11 of the main standard, tobe mbre fully described presently. Besides its 'use as a receptacle for the motor, the 'lower chamber is em. ployed as a packing-box for the main standard and the wheels and pulleys mounted thereon, these being Adismoun'ted from the assembled position shown, and packed for shipment in said box. When in use the box is mounted on an inclined base 12, Ythe inclinationof the box facilitating the feeding of the machine, andthe discharge of printed sheets therefrom. rllhe light-chamber is supplied with powerful electric lights 13, four of them being herein shown. In this ligure it hasnot been deemed necessary to show the electrical wiring, which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 7. The main switch 14 isshown at the front ,left corner, anda group of three plug connections 15 at the side near the back.

Patented Aug.1o,1915.

To the top of the chamber at the back side l is hinged a platen 16, adapted to close down inside. the chamber, at the front at least. Anarm, of the platen, 17, extends back some distance, and is provided with a roller 18:

To the back of the main box is attached a standard'having the lower arm 11 already referred to. y. An upstanding arm 19 carries a stud 2.0*fo`r a cone pulley 21. A stud 22 serves as a bearing for the main cam-wheel 23. At the rear end iS a bearing 24 for a short shaft 25. One end of 'this shaft carries a pinion 26 engaging the large spur gear 27, indicated by afew teeth and dotted outline 1n Fig. 1, and shown in full in Fig. 2.

'I o the. otherend of the shaft is attached a pulley 28. This pulley is shown belted 29 attached to the cone 21.v Norit belts to the pulley 30 attached to the cone 9,.the belt-length being the same for engagement with these respective pulleys. The normal speed is therefore much greater than that indicated by the belting in Fig. 1. The object of this construction is to give a wide" range of exposure',

whereby the machine is adapted to all possible conditions in the density of negatives, or otherwise, or even the enlargement! of photographs in case the structure of the machine should be modilied to admit of it.

The platen is preferably lifted by a springV platen is closed.' This gives a period of complete closure corresponding to nearly half a revolution of the cam-wheel. As soon as the roller passes the turn the platen opens up very quickly, with a-comparatively long period in the open position. The advantage of this construction ids that while the revolution of the cam-wheel may be relatively rapid, the dwell of the platen in the closed position gives a long period of constant and uniform lighting, coming on suddenly and suddenly closing, as will more clearly appear when the operation of the light is described. So also the prolonged dwell of the platen in the open position gives relatively lengthened time for the removal of thev printed sheet and the insertion of a new one. The effect in both respects is to give to the machine the greatest possible speed capacity, together with great precision and uniformity in printing.

l shorter one, 38. The arm ll of the standard- Illumination is secured by the following mechanical and electrical construction and arrangement: Projecting from the face of the cam-wheel is a stepped sector, which is herein shown as composed of the continuous section 36, a shorter one, 37, and a still is made hollow to receive conductor wires, and on the face of this arm opposite and coinciding with the respective steps of the sector are suitably mounted the contacts ce, b and c, as best shown in Fig. 4. Leading from these contacts are conductors d, e and f, respectively, and connecting respectively with the members g, z, and t of the group of plug circuit-closers 15. At the other'side of the said circuit-closers the group of conductors is united to a single conductor j.

Another portion of the same electrical leg, has a terminal Z suitably mounted on the arm 1l tn make constant contact with the hub of the cam-wheel- The other leg m,

` with its branch m completes the main light circuit, through the switch 14. The main line conductors are supposed to lead to a power station not shown.

It will now be evident that plugging g will close the circuit through 36, thus giving the longest possible period of lighting as the cam wheel revolves. If l1. be plugged instead, the lighting is delayed and the pejiod' both the light and the motor circuits, thel latter through 'rt and 0, so that, assuming thatthe operator does not switch off the lights by pulling a comparatively inaccessible plug, the switching off of the lights also stops the motor, and there is thus little danger of its being injured throughforgetfulness.

The machine is provided with removable frames for the negatives, and they may be adapted to hold one or many. In the drawing Ihave shown a frame specially adapted for four negatives, though with a little modification it might be used with eight. ASo also it will be understood that the spacing might be adapted for two, three, one, or other number. The frame is described as follows: 4() is a rectangular fra-me, open top the position shown in Fig. l, as by side cleats 4l. About midway of its depth is a plate of window glass 42. A. little above this, separated from the lower glass by a. narrow strip 4:3 is a rectangle of plate-glass 4A In the case of a plurality of cells, as shown in Fig. 3, these plates'of` thick glass are separated from each other by a sheet-metal, or the like opaque partition 4:5, which extend upwardly as high, or nearly as high, as the upper face of the negative, that is to say, to the under side of the thin sheet-metal frame 46, which serves as a keeper for the negative. The purpose of this partition is to prevent the light crossing from one negative cell to another diagonally, and the object'might be cated by the dotted line in Fig. 5. In practice I also extend the bottom of the middle partition downwardly to a considerable distance, as shown in Fig. l, to form a separating curtain or screen 47 between the lights on either side. This construction serves to isolate the negatives, and also serves as a means whereby their density may be equalized for printing, a' matter which is of course of prime importance when printing is done from a number of them simultaneously..A This is done by shading the thinner ones to the density of the thickest by insertingin the pockets between the bottom glass and the plate glass one or more sheets of slightly opaque material, such as tissue paper 48. The thick glass serves to soften and blend the lightV in its passage to the negative, and when so equalized any num.`

ber within the capacity of the machine may be printed simultaneously with the greatest precision and uniformity. A

In the case of the printing frame shown it will be understood that the sheets are printed on the lower half at each exposure, and then turned over for printing on the other hal-f,'or half-sized sheets are used, the upper half of the frame being darkened. Where, as in the case of this machine, a dozen or morel exposures are made in a minute there is little or no time for the operator to remove the printedsheet, and hisb whole attention must be given to supplying fresh sheets. Provision is therefor made whereby -the printed sheets are lifted from the printing-position and slide out of the machine by gravity.V This device will now be described. Connected with each printing frame is a lifter composed of a thin strip of metal 49 and apair of slides 50, to which it is attached, and adapted to move up and downa limited distancein ways provided for them in the frame. These are preferably connected by a cross-bar 51. In the lightchamber below the bar are slidably mounted a. pair of lift-rods 52 pivoted at their lower ends to a forked lever 53 pivoted at 5%. l The rea-r end of this lever passes through the back of the light chamber, and connects by a rod 55 with a short lever 56 pivoted at 57. The inner end of this lever connects by a. rod 58 with another short lever 59 pivotedv at or near the Vtop of the chamber. The free end of this lever is inclined, as shown, and in the downward movement of the platen is engaged by. a hook 60 pivoted thereto, and' held to engagingl position by a 'spring 61. The hinge of the platen and the pivot of the beveled lever are `on different centers, and it is evident that when the platen reaches a certain height the parts will disengage. rihe first action, however, as the platen rises, is to force the lifter upwardly. This carries the lower edge of the printed sheet, which rests upon it, up high enough to clear the top lof the light chamber in front, when the .sheet instantly slides out of the machine by gravity. This takes place before the hook and the lever 59 disengage. rlfhereupon .the lifter drops to normal position by gravity, and the operator feeds in a new sheet.

It is to be noted that there is ne connection between the lifting mechanism attached to the light-chamber and the lifter fitted to the printing frame. This make it possible to change prmtmg frames m a momenhby simply lifting one out and setting another 1n its place.

It will be understood that the belt 62 connecting the cone pulleys need not necessarily 1 be removed at-any time, the large cone being simply an idler when the belting is from the smaller cone to thepulley 28.

The larger moving parts are preferably made of aluminum, as by this means it has been possible to operate the machine with a high degree of e'iiciency with no greater power than that produced by a small fan motor. v f

In Fig. 8 is shown another means for prolonging the period of exposure, and designed for extraordinary circumstances, in which a very long printing period is required. This consists of an attachment for the main cam, being a segmental plate (32 with screw-holes (53 coinciding with similar holes V64 in the cam, and having a camlange-sggf fitting the iiange of the cam at each gxtremity. This, as will be evident, extends the relative period of closure of the platen, and correspondingly shortens the open period. The latter fact is not, important, however, as the cam attachment will only be used during the slowest operations of the machine, and when there is abundant time for the feeding operation.

Having thus described my invention, l claim: l f

1. 1n a photographic iprinting machine having a light-chamber, electric lamps thereincline, mechanism adapted to open and.

close said chamber and turn on and od the lights therein, a support for the lower edge of the photographic paper, and a release therefor coperating with the foregoing mechanism.

3. in -a photographic 'printing machine, having a light-chamber and electric lamps therein, a platen movable into and cut of paper-holding position, a cam-wheel coperating therewith, a semi-annular projection on said wheel Aarranged in steps, an electrical terminal in constant contact with said wheel, and a group of other terminals in the same electric circuit adapted for successive and independent contact with said projection.

4. In a photographic printing' machine, an inclined light-chamber having a paperretaining ledge at its lower side, a lifter mounted beneath the paper near the lower edgewhen in printing position, and means adapted to elevate said lifter, at the end of the printing operation.

5. In a photographic printing machine having an inclined light-chamber with. a paper retaining ledge at its low'er side, a. re-

movable printing frame fitted to said chamber, a paper-lifter mounted movably in said frame, mechanism adapted to open and close said chamber and to turn on and off the lights therein, and mechanism coperating therewith to levate said paper-lifter at the en'd of the printing operation.

6. In' a photographic printing machine lhaving an inclined light'fchamber with a paper-stop at the lower side, a pivoted platen adapted to open and close said chamber,

'electric lights in saidchamber, and mechanism to actuate said platen and lights, a printing frame mounted in said chamber, a paper-lifter connected therewith, a hool: pivoted to the platen, a lever engaged by said hook during a part of the upward movement of the platen, and `mechanism adapted to ltransfer said lifting motion to said paper lifter.

, 7. In a photographicprinting machine l having a light-chamber with electric'lamps A therein and means for automaticallynopen ing and closing said chamber vand operatpartitions between the cells, a thick glass supportfor each negative and a backing sheet o ffthinvglass at a little distance behind it, with an interspace adapted to receive a light-arresting medium. i,

9. In `combination with a photographic printing machine substantially as described, a removable printing frame arranged with a plurality of negative-holding cells, opaque partitions between the cells, a double glass acking for said cells, with interspaces between'thelayers of glass, and light-arresting sheets insertible in said interspaces.

10. In a photographic printing ymachine having a light' chamber and closing platen therefor, a cam adapted to actuate said platen, a pulley and connected gearing to drive said cam, a small cone pulley and a larger cone pulley at suitable belting distance therefrom, pulleys connected with each cone adapted to belt to the main pulley without change in belt length, and a motor adapted to impart motion to the small cone.

. 11. Ina photographic printing machine having a light-chamber and a closing platen platen, and a removable extension of said cam adapted for attachment to the cam to prolong the closed period of the plat-en.

eo therefor, a cam adapted to actuate saidl same, and a. sub-chamber adapted to serve as a packing-box for the actuating mechanism. Y

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

v FRANK W. NORTON.

' Witnesses:

J. M. ST. JOHN, V. B. LoNeFELLow, 

